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A man convicted of drug trafficking was executed at dawn in Singapore on May 17, 2023.

Capital sentence carried out

In response to Mothership's queries, the Singapore Prison Services and Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) confirmed that the man had his capital sentence carried out at Changi Prison Complex.

The deceased was a 36-year-old Singaporean.

CNB wrote: "In respect for the family's wish for privacy, we will not be releasing the name of the person."

Arrested on Feb. 14, 2016 for another matter

According to court documents, the man was arrested by CNB on Feb. 14, 2016 for another matter. At that time, he was staying in a rented condominium apartment in NV Residences at 95 Pasir Ris Grove.

The apartment was rented by another person on a short-term basis from Feb. 1 to 15, 2016.

The person was arrested with the man.

CNB seized six blocks of vegetable matter from residence

When the landlady could not reach the renter at the end of the rental period on Feb. 15, 2016, she and her husband went to the apartment at about 10pm that day to gather the tenants' belongings.

The belongings were placed with the condominium's security for safekeeping.

The landlady went back to the apartment at around 8am the next day on Feb. 16, 2016 and found three big blocks and three smaller blocks wrapped in cling wrap in the drawer of the television console in the unit's master bedroom.

She placed the blocks in a red plastic bag and handed them to the condominium's security.

Six blocks contained 1,562.97g of cannabis

On Feb. 16, 2016 evening, the security supervisor informed the landlady and her husband that he suspected that the red plastic bag contained illegal drugs as it had a strong smell.

The landlady's husband called the police and CNB officers subsequently seized the six blocks.

The six blocks were found to be not less than 3,540.07g of vegetable matter, of which 1,562.97g were found to be cannabis.

The man was charged with possessing six blocks of vegetable matter, which contained cannabis, for the purpose of trafficking.

Charged with possession for the purpose of trafficking

The prosecution mounted a case against the man, claiming that he had actual knowledge and was in possession of the six blocks of cannabis for the purpose of trafficking.

They referred to an incident on Feb. 9, 2016, midnight, when the man drove his van to Pasir Ris Farmway and collected four blocks of cannabis, which he referred to as "storybooks".

The man brought the four blocks to the condominium unit and repacked one of the blocks into three smaller blocks.

The prosecution argued that the man then kept these three smaller blocks together with the three original "storybooks" in the drawer of the television console in the master bedroom, where they were ultimately found by the landlady.

Defence argued that man had no knowledge of three "storybooks"

The defence argued otherwise, stating while the man admitted to collecting the four blocks and repacking one of them into three smaller blocks, the man placed the blocks, and subsequently, the smaller blocks in the chiller compartment of the refrigerator.

They stated that the man did not know how the six blocks wound up in the drawer of the television console in the master bedroom.

Additionally, the defence stated that the man admitted to ownership and knowledge of the smaller blocks, claiming that they were mostly for his own consumption, but denied possession and knowledge of the other three "storybooks".

They stated that the man claimed that the other three blocks were not part of the four blocks he collected on Feb. 9.

To support this, the defence stated that the man's fingerprints were not found on the three blocks and added that there were other people who had access to the apartment.

Besides the renter and the man, there were two other people who had access. The man claimed that all four parties jointly owned the four blocks.

Judgement

In his judgement, Judge Chan Seng Onn said the man's claims were "just a bare assertion" and the defence did not call the other supposed owners of the blocks to the stand to put this claim to them.

Chan stated that none of the blocks contained the two remaining owners' DNA.

While the renter's DNA was found on the cling wrap used to package one of the smaller blocks, the renter had explained this by saying that the same cling wrap was used previously to wrap up some leftover food.

On the contrary, the man's DNA was found on multiple surfaces of the three smaller blocks.

Chan also refuted the man's claims that the three other "storybooks" were not part of the four "storybooks" he collected.

He referenced the man's statement on Feb. 21, 2016, where the man originally identified the three "storybooks" as being three of the four "storybooks" that he had collected.

He also found that the number and weights of the blocks of cannabis discovered matched that of the "storybooks" that were collected and subsequently divided and repackaged.

Chan also noted that one of the smaller blocks was repackaged with the same blue foil as the three other "storybooks", suggesting that the smaller block is linked to the three other "storybooks".

Convicted in January 2019

Ultimately, Chan was of the view that the man had actual possession and knowledge of all six blocks of cannabis and had placed them in the drawer of the television console.

He also was of the view that the man possessed the six blocks of cannabis for the purpose of trafficking, stating that the man had dealt with the "storybooks" in a manner which indicated an intention to traffic when he repackaged one of the "storybooks" into three smaller blocks.

Additionally, the man was found with a large quantity of cannabis, but had stated in his Feb. 21 statement that he never smoked cannabis before.

Instead, he said the cannabis was for his "future use", where he wanted to do it "bit by bit" as he had "never tried" it before.

To this, Chan said: "I found it incredible that someone who had never tried cannabis before would have spent so much money and purchased such a large amount for his personal consumption."

Noting that cannabis is usually sold at much lower quantities, Chan said the man was in possession of a very large quantity of cannabis, even if only one block was taken into consideration.

Chan ultimately convicted the man in January 2019.

The man did not receive a certificate of substantive assistance and was sentenced to the mandatory death penalty.

Appeals against conviction was dismissed

The man appealed against Chan's decision but this was dismissed by the Court of Appeal comprising Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon, Judith Prakash and Chao Hick Tin in August 2019.

On May 10, 2023, the man's family was notified that the man's death sentence will be carried out on May 17, 2023.

The man filed an application on May 11, seeking for his case to be reviewed and hoping for a reduction to life imprisonment or a reduced charge to a non-capital offence.

The defence argued that there has been a change in the law and that additional evidence has "come to light".

In response, the prosecution filed submissions on May 15, stating that the man had failed to raise "sufficient material" and added that every issue raised in the present application had been addressed in the trial and during the appeal in 2019, is irrelevant or even contradictory to submissions made by the man in earlier proceedings.

The prosecution added that the present application is nothing more than an attempt to make a second appeal against the man's conviction, which is impermissible.

Justice Tay Yong Kwang agreed with the prosecution, stating that "there is no new evidence that will satisfy the requirements of a review application".

While he acknowledged that the law has changed, Tay stated that "the principles enunciated there have no application to or impact on the facts in this case".

He dismissed the application without setting it down for hearing on May 16, 2023.

Hanged on May 17, 2023

CNB wrote that the deceased was accorded full due process under the law, and had access to legal counsel throughout the process.

His petition to the president for clemency was unsuccessful.

The man was hanged at dawn on May 17, 2023.

In April 2023, Tangaraju s/o Suppiah, a 46-year-old Singaporean, was also executed for cannabis trafficking.

He was convicted of abetting the trafficking of 1,017.9g of cannabis sometime between Sep. 6 and 7, 2013.

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Top image via Wikimedia Commons